Port of Entry

At ports of entry and elsewhere, ADOT helps combat human trafficking

At ports of entry and elsewhere, ADOT helps combat human trafficking

At ports of entry and elsewhere, ADOT helps combat human trafficking

October 10, 2018

PHOENIX – At Arizona Department of Transportation commercial ports of entry near California and New Mexico, K-9 units are trained to identify not only evidence of illegal drugs but human cargo that can include victims of human trafficking. Lieutenants overseeing these ports have training on identifying warning signs of human trafficking, such as unusual tattoos, an unwillingness to speak up and carrying large amounts of cash without explanation.

Meanwhile, dozens of vehicles driven by officers with ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division have bumper stickers aimed at directing those who need help or who see signs of trouble to EndSexTrafficking.AZ.gov or 888.373.7888, resources offered through the Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith and Family.

With human trafficking an increasingly urgent issue, ADOT officers enforcing commercial vehicle laws have joined other law enforcement agencies and the Arizona Human Trafficking Council created by Governor Doug Ducey to help make Arizona a leader in combating this crime.

“Human trafficking is not just something you hear about on TV or read on the Internet; it’s happening right here in our state,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “That’s why it’s critical for ADOT to be part of this comprehensive effort to combat it.”

As a member of the Arizona Human Trafficking Council, Chief Gary McCarthy with ADOT’s Office of Inspector General, part of the Enforcement and Compliance Division, chairs the outreach and awareness committee that not only raises public awareness but trains people on how to spot human trafficking and what to do about it.

In addition to the training provided to lieutenants overseeing commercial ports of entry, starting in 2019 advanced training for ADOT officers will include a human-trafficking component, including where the demand comes from and what cases look like. And the Enforcement and Compliance Division plans to develop online training so other ADOT employees who work along highways will learn how to spot the signs of human trafficking.

Since December, ADOT has had its first two K-9 units trained to detect human smuggling in addition to illegal drugs. The K-9s are used at the ports of entry along the eastern and western sides of Arizona to check any commercial vehicles that raise suspicions.

“We’re taking a few approaches to do our part to end this heinous practice here in Arizona,” McCarthy said. “From training more officers to use of our K-9 units to raising awareness through bumper stickers on our vehicles, ADOT is serious about stopping human trafficking and saving lives.”

If you would like to learn more about how to help stop human trafficking, please visit EndSexTrafficking.az.gov. To report anything suspicious, please call 888.373.7888.

ADOT officers trained to respond to opioid overdoses

ADOT officers trained to respond to opioid overdoses

ADOT officers trained to respond to opioid overdoses

August 21, 2018

ECD Badge

By Ryan Harding / ADOT Communications

While an ADOT officer’s main job at a port of entry is making sure that commercial vehicles entering the state are in compliance with federal and state laws, they can and do come across scenarios that require different knowledge and skills.

That’s why these officers are getting training on recognizing opioid overdoses and being able to quickly respond to save a life.

"One of the worst feelings as a law enforcement officer is being unable to help someone in an emergency situation," said Sergeant Sean Dalley with ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division. "Having the right tools and knowing how to use them is a way to ensure we are always in a position to act fast when called upon."

Since Governor Doug Ducey declared a statewide emergency last year to address opioid overdoses and deaths, Arizona has expanded access to Naloxone, an opioid reversing agent, and training among first responders.

Naloxone box

ADOT has taken advantage of that expanded access and training by sending about 100 officers through training earlier this summer and plans to send 100 more through the training by year’s end.

"This kind of training allows our officers to respond quickly to various types of situations at the ports of entry and in the field," said Tim Lane, director of the Enforcement and Compliance Division. "ADOT looks to do its part in helping combat opioid abuse in Arizona."

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ADOT’s truck driver training in Mexico marks successful first year

ADOT’s truck driver training in Mexico marks successful first year

ADOT’s truck driver training in Mexico marks successful first year

July 30, 2018

NOGALES – On a Monday morning one year ago, five uniformed officers from the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Enforcement and Compliance Division drove south, crossing the Mexican border at San Luis south of Yuma on a mission that had never been attempted.

Their task: Make Arizona roads safer and boost the state’s economy by training Mexican truck drivers and mechanics – in Mexico – about the safety regulations they must follow to drive on U.S. roads.

In its first year, the International Border Inspection Qualification program has made a dramatic difference in the number of violations found during safety inspections, the number of trucks pulled off the road for significant repairs and the amount of time drivers spend waiting at the border before they can deliver their products to U.S. markets.

“This collaboration with the Mexican trucking industry makes crossing the border safer for everyone,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “It also supports the growth of Arizona’s economy and makes crossing the border more efficient for commercial trucking. The dramatic improvements we have seen in just one year show the commitment of our officers and the trucking community to this important program.”

In 16 two-day training sessions over the past 12 months, safety inspectors have taught 409 truck drivers and mechanics from Mexico such things as how to secure a load properly and how to know when tires and brakes are too badly worn. Six more sessions are scheduled in Mexico before the end of 2018.

The training follows Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance guidelines, which are the standard for commercial motor vehicles across the U.S., used by every state and federal agency.

The numbers for these 409 drivers shout success:

They have crossed the border 5,253 times since their training.
In all of those crossings, inspectors have found just 130 minor violations.
Only 11 times have their trucks been pulled out of service for significant safety concerns.
June is one of three months so far in 2018 when no drivers who were qualified through the program had significant safety violations.

There’s more to the story.

Drivers who complete the training and pass written and field exams are able to communicate with inspectors using the WhatsApp smartphone application. That process has been used 118 times, allowing drivers to ask questions and make repairs before approaching the border, saving what could have been time wasted waiting.

The program stems from ADOT’s use of the Arizona Management System championed by Governor Doug Ducey to have all employees continuously improve state agencies’ value to their customers.

ADOT’s Border Liaison Unit, created in 2016, also has continued shorter training sessions at Arizona’s three border ports of entry in San Luis, Nogales and Douglas. Nearly 2,000 drivers, mechanics and company owners have attended those sessions.

Drivers from Mexico have praised ADOT for giving them information they need to reduce inspection times and get on their way. The business community in Nogales has praised the program for increasing commercial truck traffic and bringing more business to Santa Cruz County. And drivers all across Arizona are safer because the trucks sharing the road with them are safer.

Companies and communities in Mexico are continuing to request that training sessions be held in their areas. Of the six programs scheduled over the rest of 2018, only one is scheduled near the Arizona border. Three programs are scheduled in Mexicali, Baja California, and single sessions are scheduled in Caborca and Hermosillo in Sonora.

“We’re getting requests from places away from the Arizona border – Mexicali, Ensenada, Caborca,” said Tim Lane, director of ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division. “That shows how well the program has been accepted not only in Sonora but across Mexico.”

Why SR 189 improvements, truck safety training in Mexico make a difference for all

Why SR 189 improvements, truck safety training in Mexico make a difference for all

Why SR 189 improvements, truck safety training in Mexico make a difference for all

June 21, 2018

Trucks

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

Last week, the Arizona State Transportation Board approved $134 million in funding for building all of the planned improvements to State Route 189 in Nogales. SR 189 is a vital road for international commerce because it connects the Mariposa Port of Entry with Interstate 19 and is a 3.75-mile first step in distributing of products and produce across the U.S.

The same week, ADOT officers who perform commercial vehicle safety inspections went to Ensenada, Mexico, for their 14^th safety cross-border training program. In the past 11 months, ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division has trained 381 truck drivers and mechanics from Mexico about U.S. safety requirements. Those drivers have made a combined 4,746 trips across the international border and have been stopped only 11 times – one-quarter of 1 percent – for serious safety violations.

Together, those two efforts mean commercial trucks are spending less time crossing the border and will spend less time navigating the start of their journey. Here’s why that matters not only to commercial truckers but to everyone in Arizona and across the U.S.

Rafael Aldrete, director of the Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research at Texas A&M University, wrote recently in The Dallas Morning News that inefficiency at the border extends "like sound waves" across vast distances and in unanticipated ways.

“Those issues can influence the cost of a television sold in Amarillo. They can determine how quickly a computer can be assembled and made available for sale in Dallas. They can affect commutes on interstate highways nationwide. And they dictate when fresh produce can be delivered and how much it will cost," he wrote.

"Traffic delays at the border can even be the decision point for where companies – especially those dependent on just-in-time delivery, like automobile or high-end electronics manufacturing – choose to open facilities, affecting economic development and employment opportunities in that community and statewide."

ADOT is doing more to reduce border wait times for commercial vehicles. Sonoran drivers have used a smartphone application, WhatsApp, 112 times since last August to check safety protocols with inspectors before approaching the border. A safety training program on the Arizona side of the border has trained another 1,521 commercial truckers in half-day safety presentations in Nogales, Douglas and San Luis.

Ultimately shorter wait times for shippers translate, in many cases, to reduced prices for consumers, Aldrete wrote.

"America's economic success depends significantly on transportation, and transportation is heavily impacted by each U.S.-Mexico port of entry – critical links that create and sustain jobs and supply the affordable goods relied upon by businesses and families across the nation," he said.

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Throwback Thursday: Getting our kicks on Route 66 (or at least at the port of entry)

Throwback Thursday: Getting our kicks on Route 66 (or at least at the port of entry)

Throwback Thursday: Getting our kicks on Route 66 (or at least at the port of entry)

May 31, 2018

By David Rookhuyzen / ADOT Communications

Today we're throwing back to these uniformed men standing outside the US 66 port of entry near Kingman in 1978.

These Motor Vehicle Division officers were being honored as ADOT employees of the month for repairing and remodeling the facility.

Until 2010, ADOT’s enforcement officers were part of the Motor Vehicle Division. Eight years ago, ADOT formed the Enforcement and Compliance Division to focus more on commercial vehicle safety.

That isn't the only change in the four decades since this photo was taken. Kelly Lightfoot, who oversees operations at the Kingman and Topock ports of entry, says ADOT’s current Kingman facility isn’t where it was back in 1978. A new structure on US 93 near State Route 68 opened in 1998.

The state-certified police officers with ADOT's Enforcement and Compliance Division focus on transportation issues including commercial vehicle enforcement, title, registration and driver’s license fraud, unlicensed auto dealers and commercial vehicle permits.

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Ehrenberg Port of Entry changing hours to accommodate construction

Ehrenberg Port of Entry changing hours to accommodate construction

Ehrenberg Port of Entry changing hours to accommodate construction

February 22, 2018

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation’s Ehrenberg Port of Entry on Interstate 10 is temporarily reducing hours of operation and making other changes to accommodate ongoing construction at the commercial port.

As of Monday, March 5, the port serving commercial vehicles entering Arizona from California will be open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday rather than the current hours of 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday.

With the port undergoing a $14.5 million renovation, commercial drivers will use the same exit (milepost 3.8) but will purchase permits and use scales at a temporary location, guided there by signs.

Commercial drivers can save time by purchasing permits online at adotepro.azdot.gov. They also can get permits at the Parker Port of Entry on State Route 95 (call 928.575.1542 to inquire about hours of operation).

Construction at the port is creating a new operations building, credential booths and an auxiliary exit lane on eastbound I-10. Work is scheduled to be complete this summer.

Sworn officers with ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division conduct inspections to make sure commercial vehicles are safe to drive on Arizona’s highways and have proper permits.

Boldly going where no one has gone before

Boldly going where no one has gone before

Boldly going where no one has gone before

September 29, 2017

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

That familiar quote in the headline above may be better known as the motto for Capt. James Kirk and his minions on the starship USS Enterprise. But it’s not too great a stretch to apply it to the good people overseeing Arizona’s highways, especially given several of the Arizona Department of Transportation initiatives moving forward at warp speed.

Crews are working this fall to install thermal cameras and other technology along a 15-mile stretch of Interstate 17 to create a first-in-the-nation pilot detection and warning system for wrong-way vehicles. In mid-September, thermal cameras being tested along Loop 101 in north Phoenix detected and set off alerts about two vehicles driving the wrong direction down exit ramps. While one driver apparently realized the mistake and turned around, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, acting on the fast notification, stopped the other vehicle on the freeway.

ADOT Director John Halikowski recently joined Juan Ciscomani, a special adviser to Governor Doug Ducey, and others on a trip to Nogales, Sonora, to talk about ADOT’s innovative International Border Inspection Qualification program. ADOT safety inspectors are crossing the border to teach classes on safety requirements for international truckers, something that no one state has done. The idea is to reduce inspection times at the border to boost international commerce while promoting safety on Arizona roads. The classes have been so popular that we’ve doubled the scheduled offerings, and the relationship between Arizona and international truckers is strengthening.

One more thing: Drivers who complete the course can communicate with inspectors even before they reach the border. A smartphone application lets them find out if their truck will pass inspection in time for them to make repairs before getting in line to cross the border. Again, something no one has done before.

Next month, ADOT seek bids for a first-of-its-kind system that has been designed to notify ADOT, DPS and drivers of approaching dust storms in a 10-mile section of Interstate 10 near Picacho. The combination of short-range and long-range radar, real-time notification of drivers, variable speed limits and real-time alerts to traffic operators and law enforcement is designed to make that busy section of highway safer.

Three projects, each designed to make Arizona safer, each the first of its kind.

Warp speed, Mr. Sulu.

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From the Director: Improvements at our ports of entry mean business for Arizona

From the Director: Improvements at our ports of entry mean business for Arizona

From the Director: Improvements at our ports of entry mean business for Arizona

August 21, 2017

Port of Entry

By John Halikowski / ADOT Director

Transportation is a key component of commerce, especially at our international ports of entry. If there are delays at the ports, it can cost businesses time and money to move products to their final destinations. At the Arizona Department of Transportation, we are making great strides in improving efficiency at our international ports of entry, making our state an attractive route for commercial carriers.

While safety remains our top goal, we want to be as efficient as possible at helping commerce move across our border and into Arizona’s economy. By working closely with international trucking interests, we are supporting commercial traffic and boosting the economy not just in Arizona but along the Interstate 10 corridor and across the nation.

ADOT enforcement officers have identified system changes that are improving operations at our international ports in San Luis, Douglas and Nogales. By being consistent with our inspections, educating Mexican trucking companies and drivers on what to expect during these inspections, coordinating inspections with our federal partners, and employing the latest technology during the inspection process -- all of these efforts are bringing commerce back to AZ. Commercial truck traffic is up 7 percent at the San Luis port in just two months.

I am proud of our agency’s efforts to streamline processes and identify innovative ways to better serve our customers, all part of the Arizona Management System. The system improvements we are making at our international ports of entry mean business for our state. While still maintaining safety, reducing inspection times and lowering company costs, we are encouraging trucking companies to use Arizona as a key commerce state. Transportation is indeed a key component of commerce.

This post originally appeared on ADOT Director John Halikowski's
LinkedIn page. He has led the agency since 2009.

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Technology making Arizona roads safer, boosting economy

Technology making Arizona roads safer, boosting economy

Technology making Arizona roads safer, boosting economy

August 10, 2017

PHOENIX – A popular smartphone messaging app is helping to make Arizona roads safer for motorists and truck drivers while reducing congestion at the international border and boosting Arizona’s economy.

As part of a first-of-its-kind safety certification program for truck drivers and trucking firms in Mexico, the Arizona Department of Transportation is using WhatsApp to help qualified drivers and mechanics know whether their trucks meet Arizona safety requirements before heading to the border.

It’s part of an effort that has members of ADOT’s Border Liaison Unit offering a two-day International Border Inspection Qualification safety course in Mexico. The first workshop was held recently in San Luis Río Colorado, and the next is scheduled for Aug. 22-23 in Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora.

“We’re taking this historic step because a border crossing process that is efficient for international commerce and improves roadway safety is absolutely essential for both Arizona and Sonora,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “This innovative program is part of an ongoing effort to make sure we are doing our jobs the best way possible in the interest of both economic growth and safety on Arizona roads.”

Drivers who complete the course and pass both a 65-question test and a practical exam of truck safety will receive a certificate allowing them to use WhatsApp to send photos of trucks to ADOT inspectors before they approach the border. Inspectors will either tell them the truck meets safety requirements or explain what needs to be corrected.

It’s an extension of an effort launched in 2016 to teach commercial truckers in Mexico what to expect in safety inspections once they enter Arizona. The Border Liaison Unit held safety inspection classes at three border ports of entry – San Luis, Nogales and Douglas – before taking its training program into Mexico.

These efforts stem from ADOT’s use of the Arizona Management System championed by Governor Doug Ducey. This approach to continuous improvement empowers employees at state agencies to come up with innovative ways to better serve customers.

Juan Ciscomani, the governor’s senior adviser for regional and international affairs, praised ADOT’s efforts.

“ADOT is conducting trainings focused on helping transportation companies better prepare for the safety inspection process once they enter Arizona,” Ciscomani said. “This work is helping speed up the flow of trade and improving the competitiveness of our region, which has been a priority for Governor Ducey.”

ADOT officers at I-40 port of entry seize $29,000 hidden in cooler

ADOT officers at I-40 port of entry seize $29,000 hidden in cooler

ADOT officers at I-40 port of entry seize $29,000 hidden in cooler

August 3, 2017

PHOENIX – Arizona Department of Transportation officers seized $29,000 hidden in a small cooler when a truck driver and passenger arrived at an Interstate 40 port of entry near New Mexico with no registration, no trailer and a suspicious story.

The officers, whose primary duty is making sure commercial vehicles operate safely and legally in Arizona, found the money Tuesday, Aug. 1, after the truck driver and his passenger gave permission to search the cab for paperwork that would help identify the truck.

The pair told officers at the Sanders Port of Entry that they had no knowledge of the money, which was in stacks tied with rubber bands, and that they had been sent by the truck’s owner to pick up the vehicle because it had been abandoned in Gallup, New Mexico.

A check of the semi’s vehicle identification number and license plate showed that the truck set out from Sacramento, California, and traveled through Utah, Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico before arriving in Arizona – all without picking up any cargo.

ADOT officers sought assistance from the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office, which dispatched a drug-sniffing K-9 unit. While there were no drugs in the truck, the dog picked up the residual scent of drugs at various spots along the vehicle. The dog also alerted officers that the money found in the cab had the scent of drugs.

ADOT officers seized the money and arrested the two men, who were booked into the Apache County Jail on misdemeanor charges including providing false information and commercial vehicle violations. The semi was towed to a holding facility for the owner to retrieve.

ADOT officers are continuing to investigate the truck and the two individuals.

In addition to making sure commercial vehicles are safe to drive on Arizona’s highways and have proper permits, ADOT Enforcement and Compliance Division officers at ports of entry coordinate with local law enforcement agencies when necessary.

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